7. Harvesting
The whole purpose of planting a crop is to have a harvest. A church should be planted with the view that it will reproduce itself into more congregations. Otherwise we are planting sterile churches. Converts must learn that they are to reproduce themselves in becoming soul winners themselves. 7.1 THE EQUIPPING SQUARE I like the equipping square that Larry Stockstill uses in his church. It looks like this:
Win them
Assimilate
them
Converts must know they are on a journey, that they are not just saved to go to heaven but that they have a destiny in their lives here on earth. God has a plan to use them for the kingdom. Hence - the priesthood of believers.
Disciple
Send them
them
Equipping goes beyond teaching. It involves mentoring – on-the-job-training – showing how it is done. That is why the cell church movement is producing far more leaders than any other church model. Unfortunately many churches lose their best leaders to parachurch organisations and the like because there is no opportunity for them to grow into a ministry in the church. The tendency today is to have homegrown pastors.
7.2 KEEP A CHURCH PLANTING VISION BEFORE THE CONGREGATION If church multiplication is not a value, the vision will fade. Let me explain by asking you a question: Why do you brush your teeth? To have healthy teeth of course! But where did it all start? It started with parents that told you to brush your teeth daily and held you accountable on a daily basis. Now, you are doing it because it has become a value. 7.3 MULTIPLICATION Make church multiplication a value in your church. The moment you plant another church, make sure you keep them accountable for reproduction. Remember that the harvest produces seed for growth. Ellis and Mitchell say "if a church exists which never thinks about reproducing itself…never expects or anticipates that this is the natural business of growing up, then it is actually sterile."
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…' (Genesis 1:28) - KJV "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14) - KJV 7.4 BECOMING A MOVEMENT Think of your surname, you belong to a family that may be several generations of the same name. You have ancestors you don't even know about. It started with a husband and wife that produced children, who in turn produced children, who in turn produced children until we get down to your existence. That is a multiplication movement. Denominations started like that. You can see this example in the Wesleyan revival through John Wesley. He started a movement that touched just about the whole world and exists even to this day. Essential ingredients of a church planting movement • Vision So often pastors only see the little flock they have and for them "the ministry" means looking after these souls. That is noble but not visionary. We need men like John Knox who prayed, "Lord, give me Scotland or I die!" We need visionaries that are prepared to take the challenge of Acts 1:8 - Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. We need pioneers that will not give themselves rest until there is a church within easy access of every person in their community. We need visionaries that see churches where there are no churches. However it is not good enough that the leader is a visionary. The whole movement must be passionate about the vision. • Strategy Every farmer has a strategy. Every General has a war strategy. Every good business entrepreneur has a strategy. Anyone who wants to spearhead a church planting movement needs a strategy from above. Without a clearly prayed through plan of action and a vision based on values it will never succeed. Every one on the team of church planters must know what the strategy is and follow it unanimously. • Leadership Any church planter who is not training other church planters is short sighted and will never spearhead a movement. In 1994 God brought a Malawian pastor across my path. Henry Mkhomanya was the pastor of a small struggling congregation meeting in a reed structure. He felt that he was called to be a church planter. I took him under my wing and mentored him. Henry had to make a choice whether he wanted to just grow his church or spearhead a movement. He chose the latter. Today Henry heads up a movement called Antioch Ministries. Every year he trains a certain amount of church planters for nine months. Their concentration is the Yao tribe in Malawi who is 95% Muslim. The reason they have seen such growth is because he constantly imparts his heart and knowledge into other men. The churches they planted have now produced other churches that have produced even more churches. Leaders must constantly reproduce themselves. They must make way for other gifted ministries that will come through them. Even Jesus made room for that when he said that others will come after him who will do greater things he had done.
Sacrifice God will not give you a nation if you are not prepared to give yourself to the nation. Church planting is not for the faint-hearted. It takes faith and sacrifice. It is hard work. In Africa I often hear pastors using the excuse of a lack of funds. They are waiting for some rich American to come and give them the money that will do the miraculous. With that mentality you will never succeed. God will meet you at your level of faith. With every church I planted there were never enough funds, yet God supplied in every situation. Church planting takes a lot of time and energy. Someone who spearheads a movement must be willing to sacrifice himself to see the vision come to pass. Teach everyone in the movement to give sacrificially to the vision. But don't stop there. Involve them. • A Respect for the greater Body of Christ I have often seen movements become sectarian because they think that they are the totality of the Kingdom of God. A wise movement leader will look for strategic partners. You can never reach a nation on your own. Learn to bless other ministries and God will bless yours. Do not see other church planters as opposition but as colabourers.
The Characteristics of a
Church Planter
Characteristics of a Church Planter